CONTROVERSIAL MP Bung Mokhtar Radin never expected to be called to take charge when Sabah Umno was hamstrung by a mass of resignations last December.

But now that he has the job, he intends to do it well.

More than a month after the departure of most of the key leaders in Sabah, Bung has commenced work to reestablish Umno as a political force in the state.

He said that it was the spirit of those still loyal to the party that had encouraged him to take on the duties of the chief.

“At first when I was given the post of state chief, it felt  like a big burden on my shoulders.

“But the grassroots are still with Umno and they were very happy and told me ‘We on the ground, we will fight for you’.”

“That made me feel better,” Bung told The Malaysian Insight.

And so the savagely outspoken MP, as Bung is known to be, became the Sabah Umno chief on December 12.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi chose Bung for the job mere hours after the state chief Hajiji Mohd Noor resigned from the party and took with him nine assemblymen and five MPs. The group left to become pro-Pakatan Harapan independents.

The deep-rooted problems in Umno were further highlighted when weeks later Zahid himself was forced to go on leave and hand over the task of running the party to deputy president Mohamad Hassan.

Bung appears to have settled into his new role. He is ready to undertake his new responsibilities but said that at this point, he is not yet bogged down by party affairs. 

The work right now is “mostly groundwork, meeting the grassroots, taking stock of the party and setting the party focus,” he said.

In the aftermath of the May 9 polls, Sabah Umno remains the largest party in the state.

Membership stood at over 560,000, Bung said.

“There have been 1,600 plus deaths and we have to clear the names off the list.

“Those who abandoned us last year were mostly branch leaders,” he said.

On Umno working with PAS, he said the pact did not affect Sabah Umno which has autonomy.

“We no longer defer to Umno Malaya on decisions.

“At this point, I am made to understand that the cooperation between Umno and PAS is largely based on Islam and Malay (issues) .

“This doesn’t look good for Sabah Umno as the members also comprise non-Muslims.”

On the agenda for Sabah Umno, Bung said the party which lacks representation in the state assembly will be a strong opposition force in Sabah.

He said Sabah Umno will support good government policies such as the ban on exporting logs but will be critical of bad ones.

He said the eight month old Warisan-led state government has not brought forth anything beneficial to the people.

Bung said the state government must stop its habit of blaming the previous government for everything, when “it has not improved any of the people’s livelihood issues and instead continues to carrying out projects mooted by Barisan Nasional.”

“I clearly recall Warisan wanted to scrap the Tanjung Aru Eco Development project but look at it now, it is pursuing it.”

Meanwhile, the autonomous Sabah Umno is not thinking of striking up any alliiance such as Gabungan Bersatu Sabah.

“The focus right now is on strengthening the party.”

If Umno wants to win in the next general election, he said, it has to start working now. – February 1, 2019.